Angelus
Angelus (called Angel in Japan) is a female red dragon and the heroine of Drakengard. She is the pact-partner of the main protagonist, Caim. Because she is a dragon, she is arguably the most powerful playable character in the game. Story We know nothing of Angelus's life prior to the events of the game but considering that she is 10,000 years old at the start of the game and given her distaste for humans, it is likely that she witnessed many atrocities committed by the human race in her lifetime, against each other and possibly against her fellow dragons. A Pact of Desperation As Caim is trying to fend off an attack on the Castle of the Goddess by the Empire, he comes upon a captured red dragon. Memories of his parents' deaths at the hands of an evil black dragon flood his mind and in a rage, he lifts his sword to strike down the beast as an act of revenge. Severely wounded and near death, the dragon whispers, "Kill me if you desire...but you can never dirty my soul, wretched human!" Caim, bleeding badly and close to death himself from a deep wound in his back, rethinks his decision and in an act of desperation, demands a pact from the dragon. Even though dying, the dragon holds on to her pride and asks him why he thinks he's worthy of pact with her. "Worthy or not, I wish to live!" he tells her. Seeing that the dragon is still hesitant, Caim demands an answer. "A pact, or death!" Realizing that her life is more important than pride, the dragon tells Caim that they are bonded by their need to live and agrees to a pact. They join their souls, and the two are healed and become one. They soar together into the sky and destroy all the Imperial soldiers. Destruction of the Seals The red dragon meets Caim's sister, Furiae, who is the goddess that protects the Seal, and his childhood friend Inuart. Though she feels some sympathy for Furiae's situation, she scoffs at Inuart's blind devotion to the Goddess, believing him to be an emotionally weak fool. They head to the village of the elves, believing that Furiae will be safer there than at the castle. Unfortunately, they find the elf village completely destroyed. They meet a blind man named Leonard who lost his sight when he made a pact with a malicious fairy. Together, he & Caim try to protect the Forest Seal, but fail. The group heads to the Desert Seal to try and protect it. There, they find Furiae, only to learn that Inuart and the Heirarch Verdelet have been captured by the Empire. Caim goes to the imperial prison in the dessert, and frees Verdelet. Inuart however, is nowhere to be found and all that remains is his harp. The empire attacks the Dessert Seal, and succeeds in destroying it. Afterwards, the group finds an elf girl by the name Arioch, whom is a pact partner as well, having made a pact with the spirits of Fire & Water, Salamander & Undine respectively, at the price of her womb. She decides to join them on their journey, though they keep close watch on her as it is clear that she is mentally unstable. Later, Inuart finds Caim, saying that the only way to ensure Furiae's safety is to bring her to the Empire. Caim refuses and the two fight. Inuart has gotten much stronger and overpowers Caim easily. It is then that Inuart reveals that he is also a pact partner, having made a pact with a black dragon, at the cost of his singing ability. The two dragons do battle as well, with the black dragon gaining the upper hand, biting into the red dragon's neck. Caim rushes in to strike down the black dragon, but is met with a fiery inferno. Protected only by his red dragon, the two lose the battle. Inuart takes Furiae and flies off. With this harsh blow, the group still try to protect the seals. They manage to find the ocean seal, only to lose it as well. Now only one seal remains, Furiae. Before they can start looking for her though, the Empire decides to unleash a massive attack on the Union in one glorious battle. Caim heads through the mountains, finding a young boy named Seere and his pact partner, Golem. Seere asks Caim to help him find his sister. With this new addition, they face off against the Empire. With Caim and his dragon's strength, they win the fight. However, shortly afterward, the skies turn red, meteors fall to the ground, and the dead soldiers rise from the grave. Now Caim & his dragon fight against the undead, and the army is slaughtered. After the battle, Caim finds the Empire's flying fortress. He is met with Inuart once again, and the two battle in the sky. The red dragon berates the black dragon for having no honor or pride. Inuart flees and Caim follows. Caim fights through the halls of the grand fortress, till he finds his sister along with a little dancing girl named Manah, Seere's sister. The girl is clearly possessed as her voice switches from a normal little girl's to a deep, demonic voice and she reveals Furiae's darkest thoughts. Caim looks away from her in disgust, but it quickly turns to despair as his sister commits suicide, unable to bear the thought of Caim hating her. With that, the last seal is broken, and the world plummets to chaos. Caim leaves the fortress, only to find Inuart carrying Furiae's dead body. The two fight again, Caim winning this time. They chase Inuart to the imperial city, where they fight armies of imperial soldiers and the Seeds of Destruction appear. Caim & his partner happen upon a monstrosity, a legendary dragon, known as the Wyrm. The red dragon shows fear for the first time, paralyzed and unable to move, not wanting to fight this beast as she is sure that she cannot win. Caim, wanting to prove her wrong, warms and caresses her in an attempt to sooth her and urges his partner on. The dragon reluctantly prepares to fight. In a colossal battle, the two manage to take down their immensely powerful foe and grow much closer in the process. The red dragon thanks Caim for making her stronger and the two continue on to Manah's fortress. Endings Ending 1: In the canonical ending of the game, the two defeat Manah's undead soldiers. Then Manah grows to gigantic size and fights them herself. Caim & his dragon partner defeat her and then Caim, rather than kill Manah like she wishes (whatever was possessing her is gone now), decides to let her live long enough to let her see all the horrific things she's done as punishment. However, the matter of the new Seal still remains. The red dragon, wanting to protect Caim, volunteers to be the Seal. Caim is distraught and during the ceremony, sheds tears, knowing that his partner, whom he's come to love, is about to leave him forever. He warms the dragon one last time, in a small attempt to give her comfort during the painful emblazoning of the seal on her body. Knowing her time is short, the dragon tells him her name, Angelus, saying that he the first and now last human to know her name. Saying her final farewell, Angelus fades away, leaving Caim and Verdelet alone. Ending 2: Caim arrives at Manah's palace, only to find she has been eaten by a dragon. Angelus has also changed, becoming what is known as a Chaos Dragon. She says that now they must fight, as the dragons plan on killing all of humanity and taking over. She breaks the pact, and the two fight. Caim kills Angelus, breaking his own heart in the process. With one last look at his dead friend, Caim runs into the light, ready to race the army of dragons. Ending 3: After the battle with Inuart, Caim tracks him down to stop him from using the Seeds of Destruction to revive Furiae. He fails, and Furiae is reborn as a winged monster. She kills Inuart, and proceeds to fight Caim. He & Angelus manage to kill her. As Caim stands on a hill, holding his dead sister in his arms, he gazes out at the thousands of Furiae clones that rise around the city to destroy the world. Ending 4: Seere's pact partner Golem manages to kill Manah by crushing her with his hand. With the world driven insane and time distorted, the Grotesqueries fly down to kill all humans. They have the appearance of giant floating babies with sharp teeth, indicating that they are demonic. There is also one with the look of a giant pregnant female. The group battles against these odd creatures and lose many in their team. Arioch is eaten, thinking that these babies are her children, Leonard explodes himself to kill many of the demons, and Caim & Angelus are also defeated (and presumably killed). They do manage to get Seere to the large pregnant female before being attacked, and he releases the seal that kept him as a perpetual child when he made his pact with Golem. As a result, a large section of the world is forever frozen in time. Ending 5: Caim and Angelus battle the large pregnant female and destroy her. When the battle is over, they are in current time Tokyo, and are shot down by jets. Drakegard 2 Sometime after Angelus became the Seal, for some unknown reason, Verdelet increased the power on it, causing her even more anguish and leaving her unable to communicate mentally with Caim. As the seals are broken, she's able to call out to Caim, but she also slowly loses her sanity and when the last seal is finally broken in the District of Shining Life, Angelus is freed, but with no memory of Caim and knowing only bloodlust. Caim asks Nowe, a deserter of the Knights, to kill Angelus and free her from her pain. He does so and Angelus & Caim share one last moment together. The two smile at each other, communicating a bond that no other could understand. "Is it over, Caim?" Angelus asks. He warms her and nods, answering, "Yes. We're together now..." The two are engulfed in an inferno, finally at peace and with each other eternally.